1. Field of Invention
The present invention is directed to an automatic liquid dispensing device with smart properties.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquids, such as water, fertilizer, nutrients, pesticides, and vitamins (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cliquidsxe2x80x9d) are as vital for plants as they are for other organisms. The pressure of water within plant cells help the plant""s leaves to remain firm. Liquids are involved in most of a plant""s biochemical reactions. Liquids store and provide essential, dissolved nutrients.
How often plants need various types of liquid, and how much liquid is needed, depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to the needs of a particular plant, the plant""s root structure and depth, the plant""s age, the season (e.g. in winter, when the days are short and the sun is low on the horizon, plants in leaf can exist for days or weeks on much less liquid than they demand in summer), the weather (e.g. temperature, humidity, rainfall, an amount of wind), the nature of the soil, density of plantings surrounding the plant, location of the plant (e.g. in direct sun, in complete shade, under cover, inside a shelter), and the method of application. To ignore these factors and provide liquid by calendar or clock may subject the plants to drought, drowning, malnourishment, fertilizer burn, or other calamities.
In terms of watering a plant, watering thoroughly and infrequently is generally considered the optimal method of watering. This is considered an optimal method of watering because plants generally fare better when they are sufficiently watered, when the water is allowed to drain, and when air is allowed into the soil. The best method for watering plants is to provide the water directly to the soil, rather than over the tops of the plants. The water should be applied at a rate no faster than it can percolate into the soil so that the excess will not run off and be wasted. This technique reduces water lost through evaporation and keeps leaves dry, which discourages diseases.
Liquid may be provided to plants by tools such as watering cans, traditional hoses, hoses with tiny holes all along their surface (e.g. soaker hoses), drip irrigation systems (e.g. plastic tubes with tiny holes punched in them at intervals), plastic jugs with small holes punched in the bottom filled with liquid and set beside a plant, and sprinklers. Providing liquids to large, densely planted areas, such as lawns or farm fields, requires a sprinkler or irrigation system. As is evidenced by the quantity of patents directed to liquid providing tools, many attempts have been made to improve upon the traditional liquid providing tools.
Patents directed to liquid providing tools generally fall into three categories. First, there are liquid providing tools that contain a sensor element embedded deep in the soil, near a plant""s roots. Optimally, the sensor element determines when the plant or other material requires liquid by xe2x80x9csensingxe2x80x9d the amount of liquid in the soil. The second category of liquid providing tools are those that contain a liquid-bearing container. When the plant requires liquid, the liquid located in the liquid-bearing container completely empties into the plant""s soil in one cycle. Finally, there are liquid providing tools that use atmospheric conditions unrelated to a plant or the plant""s soil to determine when liquid should be provided to the plant.
Patents disclosing liquid providing tools that contain a sensor element embedded deep in the soil include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,856,205 and 3,438,575 to Rohling; U.S. Pat. No. 3,758,987 to Crane, Jr.; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,321,937 and 4,542,762 to Littlehale; U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,899 to DiOrio; U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,807 to Wall; U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,446 to Hunter; U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,978 to Kurz; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,856 to Doan.
Embedding a sensor element deep in the soil of a plant requires invasive probing and digging in the plant""s soil, which may cause severe damage and stress to the plant""s roots. Further, if the sensor element is improperly located in the plant""s soil (for example, far away from the plant""s roots), the sensor element may not accurately sense the amount of liquid in the plant""s soil, which may lead to over- or under-watering the plant.
Patents disclosing liquid providing tools containing liquid-bearing containers that completely empty into the soil of a plant or the plant""s soil in one cycle include U.S. Pat. No. 3,125,255 to Kaiser; U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,129 to Torrence; U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,823 to Hunsaker; U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,206 to Peterson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,835 to Romo; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,605 to Campau.
Completely emptying a liquid-bearing container in one cycle, may lead to over-watering of the plant, root rot, and/or the plant may die. Additionally, if the liquid-bearing container is not timely re-filled, the plant may become under-watered and/or die.
The third category of liquid providing tools is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,529 to Freeman. In this third category, atmospheric conditions that are unrelated to a plant or the plant""s soil, are used to determine when liquid should be provided to the plant. This may lead to the over or under-watering of the plant.
The present invention is directed to an automatic liquid dispensing device with smart properties. All of the embodiments of the device of the present invention preferably include a storage chamber, measuring chamber, and evaporation chamber. The evaporation chamber contains an evaporation pool that is inset in the evaporation chamber. The storage chamber and measuring chamber are operatively connected by a storage/measuring passage, the measuring chamber and evaporation chamber are operatively connected by a measuring/evaporation passage, and the storage chamber and evaporation chamber are operatively connected by a storage/evaporation passage.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.